They may be relatively unknown and their subject matter may be a little dry, but the eight economists who comprise the Consensus Forecasting Group have a powerful role to play: They determine just how much money state government can expect each year.

As anyone who has ever put a budget together knows, it can be tough to predict what a year will bring. Their job, however, is even more difficult: They have to look more than 30 months ahead, to cover not just the two-year span for the budget but also the six additional months needed to prepare, pass and implement it.

Don Hopper of Louisville and Martha Hopper of Taylorsville announce the engagement and approaching wedding of their daughter, Tachelle Banfield Hopper, to Tommy Burgin, son of Darlene Burgin of Campbellsburg and the late Charles Burgin.

The bride-elect lives in Taylorsville and is a 1985 graduate of the Christian Academy of Louisville. She earned an associate’s degree in paralegal studies in 1987 from Sullivan University. She is the mother of Augustus and McMillan Ludwick.

Oldham County Schools Superintendent Will Wells said the district is in no hurry to implement a new state law raising the age students can drop out of high school.
Senate Bill 97 raised the legal age for dropouts from 16 to 18 earlier this year. The new law was a voluntary mandate until it was adopted by 55 percent of the state’s school corporations. Last week, 96 school corporations adopted the law, which means it will be effective in every district by the 2017-18 school year.

While the proposed compensation tax for people who work in La Grange was defeated three weeks ago by city council, a wage tax may not be dead yet.
The city’s ordinance committee met Thursday, July 18, to discuss new ways to borrow money, after Moody’s Investment Services downgraded the city’s credit rating from A2 to Ba2 – two levels below investment grade.
The committee also discussed a new proposal compensation tax.
Mayor Bill Lammlein said after the July 1 vote that he wouldn’t bring up the tax again.

The newest Comprehensive Plan for Oldham County made its first stop in Oldham County Fiscal Court on Tuesday, July 16.
Jim Urban, director of Planning and Development Services, presented the plan to the magistrates for a first reading. He outlined the main points, including the new land-use map, which will aid in identifying what areas of land can be used for specific types of development.
Fiscal Court will host a second reading of the plan at 6 p.m. Aug. 6, tp accommodate anyone from the public who wishes to speak on the matter.